Political Geography

• STATE: (what we call a country) an area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government and control over its internal affairs.
• Occupies space
• Permanent population
• Has Sovereignty

Political Geography

SOVEREIGNTY: A state has control over its’ internal affairs without interference by other states.

Why is sovereignty important?

Can you think of “states” or “countries” that don’t have sovereignty?

How States came to be

First there came CITY-STATES: a sovereign state that comprises a town and the surrounding countryside

Early city-states existed in Ancient Greece: Athens, Crete, Troy, and SPAAARRRTAAAAA!

How states came to be

Many city-states had people who all belonged to the same ethnicity. When people in an ethnicity develop self-determination (sovereignty) it turns into a NATION.

How states came to be

STATELESS NATION: when a nationality doesn’t have a state or self-determination, and may face discrimination.

• The Kurds
• The Jews (until 1947)
• Now Palestine
• Quebec

How states came to be

Unsurprisingly, NATIONS of many cities band together and create a NATION-STATE: when a state’s territory corresponds to the borders of a particular ethnicity transformed into a nation.

• This originated in Western Europe (what are nation states in Europe?)
• Nazi Germany even desired a Nation-State (Third Reich)

Political Geography

MULTINATIONAL STATE: When a state contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination

• The largest multinational-state in the world: The Soviet Union, and now Russia

​

Nations of Russians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Ukranians, Belorussians, Moldovans, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Georgians, and more!

​

So how many countries (states) are there in the world?

How Many Countries? (5 min)

Colonies

COLONY: when a territory is legally tied to (controlled by) a sovereign state rather than being completely independent.

• Americas were once almost entirely colonies:
• France: Quebec, Louisiana, Haiti, Belize
• Britain: 13 Colonies, Canada, Jamaica
• Portugal: Brazil
• Spain: just about everything else.

Colonies

COLONIALISM: is the effort by one state to establish settlements in a territory and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles on that territory.

Colonies

So why did European countries (especially) establish colonies?

• The “3 Gs”
• GOD - to promote Christianity
• GLORY - to show how cool and powerful they are
• GOLD - to get resources and money

Colonies

Are there still colonies in the world? Where do you think they are?

Political Geography

Some political entities don’t fit neatly into a category. Are they a state? Are they a colony?

Greenland is a part of Denmark, but makes their own laws.

Are Hong Kong and Macau Colonies?

The Principality of SEALAND!

​

History of Sealand

• During World War II, Britain established artificial islands
• Guarded the Thames estuary
• Abandoned after the war
• Located in international waters
• 1966 a British family took possession and restored the platform
• 1967 declared itself a nation
• Has become increasingly internationally accepted and secure – European states have given it de facto recognition

Coins

Stamps

Other Junk

Is Sealand a State?

• Has space or territory with recognized boundaries
• Has a permanent population
• Has economic activity
• Has a government
• Has sovereignty
• Has external recognition by other states
• Has economic activity and currency

​

​

​

​

​